Northwoods Birdcamp 2010 Week 5

After a few weeks of lots of company, things are suddenly very quiet and I must say, a bit lonely, here in the Northwoods. The last group left today and it was quite sad! There are still some folks that I will get to meet and hunt with over the next few weeks, and lots to do so I will still be busy, but I really must say the past several weeks with great friends, great dogs, and fantastic food were wonderful times!

I will get back into the swing of things and hit it hard for the last 3 weeks, but today it was very windy (good day to lose a dog) and I had so much to catch up on (do I say that a lot?) that I decided to just stay in. My young dogs have barely hunted the past 2 weeks, so it is time to really get to it. Before I know it, it will be over! I was sick for a while, missed a lot of work and had to catch up, and it was time to let the mature dogs shine before they returned to PA. But, I think I have only “hunted” one day in two weeks! I missed a lot of fun with our guests and others that wanted to visit, but there was nothing I could do. I will be better prepared and in better shape to handle the demands of everything without getting so run-down next year! I really can’t stand that I missed hunting with friends that were in the area and wanted to visit. I disappointed quite a few folks!

The puppies have returned to PA as well and I miss them terribly! There are folks in PA that want to see them so they had to go back. I am telling myself that they will receive  more attention and get used to living in the house again and get to sleep on the sofa and it will be better for them, but my gosh were they a blast! They are pure joy and I really can’t say enough about getting to see these pups develop here. They were introduced to so many things and are one bold, beautiful bunch of boys! It took everything I had to not keep Stoney here with me.

The Northwoods are very bare, now. There are no leaves left on the trees, grasses are brown, and the landscape is taking on the look of the impending Winter. We’ve had incredible mild weather and barely a drop of rain in weeks. It made it nice for hunting, but not for scenting for the dogs. Still, they have done very well, I believe. The birds are still here, but are not as easy to find. It is always a fantastic challenge to hunt the King of game birds and I look forward to learning more and more everyday of every season.

I plan to check out as many new areas (to me) as possible with my remaining time here and get the dogs as much time on the ground and into as many birds as humanly possibly. With the departure of all our friends and visitors, comes the realization that my time here, too, will come to an end sooner than I like… The trip to Kansas for quail following this one isn’t looking very promising as I still haven’t found a place to stay. We’ll see what happens.

I will try to keep things updated more often over the next few weeks.